Bound to the Earth
by The Book Guru
Summary: Tessa Cren has a gift. A gift that could cost her own life if anyone found out. However; after being whisked away to a secret society, Tessa realizes that she must imbrace her destiny in order to the save the lives of millions.
1. Chapter 1

**_Preview_**

_ Death gives birth to new life. A heart stops as another one begins. Somewhere in a nursing home an old woman breathes her last breath and closes he eyes for the last time. Within a hospital, a baby is born. She lets out a shriek and is laid in her mother's arms. As the infant sleeps she is unaware that she posses a gift only a select few have. The baby is oblivious that her destiny is already laid out like a chess board. Believe it or not, the fate of the world rest in the girl's small chubby hands. Like the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of the Avatars begin anew._

_**Chapter 1**_

RING! The school bell rang marking the beginning of lunch. Tessa gathered her books and walked out of the class room. When she reached her locker, she spun her combination dial and opened it. Tessa put her book in and shut the locker. As she turned around she came face to face with the girl Tessa detested the most, Britney. "Hey Tessy," the priss said in her squeaky voice. "Not now Britney," Tessa said through clenched teeth. "And my name is Tessa not Tessy." "I heard that you flunked another English test... and math test...and social studies test...and-" "Do you need me to define the words 'leave me alone'?" Tessa interrupted. She then turned and stomped away from Brittney towards the cafeteria.

After Tessa got her food from the lunch line, she took a seat by Patrick and his girlfriend, Alisa. Patrick was Tessa's younger brother. He distinctly resembled their dad with his sandy hair and eyes the color of chocolate. Alisa had auburn hair that reached to the middle of her back. She was very polite and Tessa was happy that she was going out with her brother. "What's up?" Patrick asked noticing Tessa's sour face. "It's Britney," She muttered. "She won't get off my back. She never has ever since that incident in kindergarten when I shoved a mud pie in her face." Alisa giggled. "That was pretty funny," she chuckled. "Speaking of Britney," whispered Patrick. He nodded his head behind Tessa. Tessa turned and got a face full of steaming hot chicken soup. Stunned, she wiped the broth out of he eyes and saw Britney's smug face staring down at her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Britney said with false pity. Tessa felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. She stood up and stared Britney right in the eyes. "Don't be," Tessa growled. Then, unable to meet Alisa's or Patrick's gaze, she dashed out of the cafeteria.  
By the time Tessa was done blotting her clothes dry, there was no more paper towels left in the restroom. "Stupid Britney," uttered Tessa. "Stupid soup. Stupid school. " Tessa look up at herself in the bathroom mirror. "Why don't people like me?" She breathed. All she saw in the mirror was a 14 year old girl with caramel colored hair dotted with remnants of noodles and a freckled face looking despondent. Tears welled in Tessa's eyes. "Stupid me," she whispered looking down. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!...BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Tessa's head shot up. She then became confused. The staff usual notified the school about a fire drill unless...Tessa's eyes widened. It wasn't a drill.

Tessa dashed out of the bathroom and saw students filing into the hallway, pushing and shoving their way to the front doors. She managed to squeeze her way into the crowd of panicking students. Suddenly there was loud screams and Tessa turned. Black smoke engulfed the corridor. In the distance was a bright orange glow. Walking blindly with the crowd of terrorized students, she made it outside. When Tessa's eyes adjusted to the radiant sunlight, she was tackled in her mother's embrace. "Tessa, baby, thank goodness you're all right!" her mom soothed. Tessa's heart suddenly quickened from slow walk to sprinting. She pulled away and with urgency, "Mom, where's Patrick?" Her mother glanced down and her and quickly broke her gaze, tears welling in her eyes. "Mom, where is he?" Tessa demanded. Her question was answered when her mother turned towards the building. "No," Tessa whispered. "No!" With that she took off sprinting towards the burning building.

Comment please if anyone like it, or you have any suggestions! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

As Tessa rushed to the blazing building, she could hear her mom's desperate cry and the scuffle of boots as a firefighter held her back from running to Tessa. But at the moment all that was going through Tessa's mind was "Please not Patrick. Anything but Patrick." When she reached the front doors to the inferno, she didn't even hesitate. Tessa slammed open the door, and sprinted of to the cafeteria where she last saw Patrick. "Patrick, Patrick!" Tessa screamed hoarsely. All she heard in reply was the crackling of flames around her. She dogged burning rubble as the school threatened to collapse around her. If she was going to rescue Patrick she would have to do it quickly. The school might not hold up much longer. She began thinking how long would she last in this blaze. Already, Tessa was dripping sweat and found it harder to inhale with every breath. She decided she had to give up.

Tessa's face was streaked with ash. Her long caramel hair was slightly singed and in knots. Her mind was in turmoil about what she should do. She found it nuts to be having a debate her head while standing in the middle of a building set ablaze and the whole thing ready to topple down on her any second. But this was a severe occasion. Tessa searched the building high and low and found no trace of her missing brother. Yet Tessa had to go and leave the building. She was having trouble breathing and her vision was starting to fog. SNAP! Tessa looked up to find a burning piece of wood about a yard long and approximately a foot thick heading straight for her! It landed hard right on the back of her head. A shot of pain went down her spine and Tessa saw stars. Just then, images began to flash through her mind like speeding cars.

Tessa saw a tiny village nestled away in the crevices of a glacier. It seemed to be under attack. There were people fleeing and figures dropping down from giant blimps and 'disposing' of the innocent villagers. The scene shifted to a man and a woman. They were inside a cramped hut. Before them stood a hooded figure, dressed in black. There was a bright light and Tessa saw a paved road dimly lit. A man with emerald eyes and wavy black hair was dashing away from something. He tripped and fell to the ground. The man had a net thrown over him. The next vision was of a man with golden eyes lying sprawled out on a concrete floor. He was bleeding from several nasty cuts and was swollen from bruises. Three people in green jumpsuits were kicking him, hard. The last image was a man in a mask, standing over Tessa. He outstretched pale hand. As it moved closer and closer, Tessa's heart beat faster and faster. Right when the pale finger brushed against her forehead, there was an ear-splitting howl and then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Tessa opened her eyes with a jolt. She saw the ceiling of the burning building. Tessa realized she was on the ground. Groaning, she lifted herself off the floor and collapsed once again. Pulling herself up for the second time, Tessa managed to get on her feet. Then she heard the whimper again. Wasting no time, Tessa started limping to the noise. Once she reached the place of the sound, Tessa almost passed out again. There, crushed by ten feet of crumbled concrete, was Patrick. Tessa was surprised that she even recognized him. His arm was twisted in a way that it should not be. Patrick's skin was almost translucent from the loss of blood. There was a deep welt on the right side of his face that Tessa knew, if he survived, would brand him for the rest of his life.  
"Tessa?" Patrick mumbled faintly. "Tessa help."  
Tessa stood there in shock. A million thoughts flooded her mind. They all centered on the same thing. How does she get Patrick out alive?

"Tessa, help," whimpered Patrick. His voice was fading and his eyes were closing. An idea popped into Tessa's head. Then she realized the severity of the consequences if she was caught, torture or even death. But her brother was in mortal danger. Tessa would rather be thrown into prison than watch her brother die as she watched helplessly. Tessa took a deep breath (or a deep of breath as you can get in smoke). She got into a solid stance. Hesitantly, she raised her arm. Immediately, Tessa's arms felt like lead. She started to sweat and her legs felt like pudding. She lifted her hand and the ruble started to quiver. Tessa closed her eyes the pain was almost too much to bare. She slowly moved her hand across her body and lowered it. The mountain of rocks landed with a boom, and Tessa knew she had succeeded. She then slipped into the welcoming darkness.

"She's waking up!"  
"It's a miracle!"  
"Give her some room."  
Distant voices blurred together in Tessa's mind. She slowly lifted her eyelids. It took a while for her vision to focus. When it did, she saw several people in white coats and hygienic masks.  
"Where am I?" Tessa uttered struggling to sit up.  
"Relax kid," a man said easing her back on the bed. "You just recovered from a severe concussion and have been in a coma for weeks."  
Tessa took the information in. She was unconscious for several weeks. Then she remembered the events before she passed out.  
"Patrick!" Tessa gasped. "Is he alright?"  
The doctors exchanged glances. Tessa's heart dropped like a stone. A nurse with a needle poked Tessa in her right arm and injected her with some type of fluid. Immediately she began to feel drowsy.  
"Sleep Tessa Cren. You have been through a lot," said a droning voice. Tessa's vision turned foggy and the voice seemed to grow further away.  
"Sleep."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Tessa paced around her hospital room twiddling her thumbs. It has been about five days since she regained consciousness. Even though Tessa felt fine, the doctors would not let her leave. Tessa stopped pacing and looked at the clip board tied to the foot of the bed. It read: No change in behavior. Mentally traumatized. Not eating. Diagnosed with clinical depression.  
Tessa thought to her self, _"I didn't change my behavior because I'm stubborn. They would be traumatized too if they witnessed my predicament. I am not eating because the food here is disgusting and I am depressed because-well- I don't want to think about that right now."_ Tessa stomped her foot on the ground creating a slight dent in the concrete floor. She didn't want to be locked up in this prison. She had a life to live. All the doctors were going to do was run tests on her. Tessa's heart skipped a beat. What if they found out she was a bender? What lie ahead for her if the doctors did?

Tessa decided to turn in early for the night. She crawled onto the springy bed and laid her head upon a miniature pillow. The paper pillow case made an annoying crinkling sound every time Tessa turned. To make matters worse, her lack of exercise made it nearly impossible to fall asleep. After countless hours of tossing and turning, Tessa knew that any more effort would prove futile. There was too much on her mind anyway. She was extremely homesick and missed her mom terribly. Frustrated, Tessa slid off the creaking bed and shuffled over to the window. She pulled up the blinds and threw open the sliding pane. The crisp night air flowed into the stuffy room. Tessa let the moon bathe her face in its glow. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of crickets chirping. It was so peaceful and calming. Just then, Tessa sensed movement from a story below her. Tessa opened her eyes and saw a black shadow flying threw the window right towards her!

The object flew past Tessa's head and landed on the floor with a thud. Tessa hesitantly crawled towards it. It was a small metal cylinder with a red light bulb on the side. The light started blinking and Tessa slowly picked it up. She placed it up to her ear and heard a faint beeping. Frantically, Tessa threw it across the room. When it hit the ground it spewed out green smoke. Soon the room was filled with it. Tessa's heat beat fast as she ran towards the door. She grasped the knob and yanked and hard as she could. Try as she might, the metal door would not open. Tessa pounded on the door screaming, "Help! Someone help me!" She then heard a small thump behind her. Tessa slowly turn to see red eyes staring at her through the dense smoke. There were several more thuds as more eyes appeared. They drew closer and closer towards Tessa. She  
couldn't take it any longer. She let out a high pitched scream and one of the eyes lunged at her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

As the thing lunged at Tessa, she realized that it was not a beast but a human in a green jumpsuit. And the red eyes were not eyes at all. They were just the eyes of a mask. This did not make Tessa's situation the slightest bit less frightening. Yet something seemed familiar about these people. All of this flashed through Tessa's mind a mile a minute. The person landed heavily on top of Tessa. She felt as if a wrestler tackled her. Before Tessa could react, the figure rapidly implied a couple jabs in her arms and punches on her legs. Tessa felt her legs give way and she fell to the ground. She was freaked out. She couldn't move her limbs! Right as Tessa thought she was a goner, a burst of fire entered through the window.

Tessa screamed as the red hot flames entered the room. It would've roasted the masked people if they wouldn't have ducked or flipped out of the way. A shadow leaped onto the window sill. The moonlight illuminated the figure's face. Tessa was surprised to find it a teenage boy. He had pale skin and dark brown curly hair. The most intense feature was his ember eyes that sparkled in the vanishing glow of the fire. He threw himself at one of the people and tackled him to the ground. The poor guy was knocked out almost immediately. One ran at the boy. Without turning, the teen nimbly back flipped over the stunned masked person. The boy snatched a rope with two metal balls at each end off of the person's belt. He flung it at him. Tied up, the person fell to the ground. Was it Tessa, or did the kid _wink_ at her? A person in a green jumpsuit charged at the kid. Swiftly, he punched his arm. A wall of fire erupted. Tessa let out a small cry. Her rescuer was a firebender!

The masked people backed away from the tongues of roaring flames. The boy jumped high over the wall and landed, unharmed, in front of the person. The teen lifted his armed and pulled downwards sending the wave of fire crashing down onto a masked person. Tessa watched to fight closely, studding the firebender's every movement. She was surprised to see that his eyes were full of amusement. The boy was actually enjoying this! Tessa shifted her legs. They were starting to regain feeling. She focused her attention back on the teen. He charged at the last remaining member of the group. The boy grabbed the masked person's arm and flipped him out of the window. There was silence for a moment. Then the kid turned and walked over towards Tessa. He held out his hand and helped her up. The boy was taller than Tessa realized. She looked up into the  
golden eyes.  
"Who are you?" she asked.  
"The name's Erise. Head captain of the ERR," the boy exclaimed.


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6:**

Erise stood there looking down at Tessa.  
"Um...," Tessa stammered blushing from the intensity of his gaze. "We should get out of here."  
"Oh...uh...yeah," Erise said bringing himself back. He walked over to the window. Erise held out his hand and Tessa hesitated.  
"Come on," he reassured.  
Tessa walked over beside Erise and took his hand. Before she could look back at the vacant recovery room, Erise pulled her trough the window. They fell a few feet before hitting the ground.  
"Hurry up sweet cheeks," Erise said pulling Tessa along.  
"Did you just call me _sweet cheeks_?" She interrogated.  
"Well what else am I supposed to call you? You haven't exactly told me your name." Erise defended.  
"Tessa. My name is Tessa."  
It felt like such a relief to say her own name. It reminded her of who she was, who she is. Tessa Cren.  
"Tessa," Erise repeated. "Cool name!"  
"How are we going to get away from here?" she asked, fearing that the strange people will show up on again.

"Over here," Erise said leading Tessa to a motorcycle.  
It was jet black with chrome handle bars. Erise climbed on and turned the engine key. The motorcycle roared to life. The headlights flashed on blinding Tessa.  
"A motorcycle!" she exclaimed. "But you can't drive! You are like what? Fourteen!"  
"Fifteen. Now come on! Those chi-blockers would be on our tail any second."  
"Chi-blockers? What in the world is a chi-blocker?"  
"I'll explain later."  
Tessa reluctantly climbed on the vehicle and loosely wrapped her arms around Erise's waist. Then Tessa realized something.  
"Wait! Shouldn't we wear hel-METS?!"  
The motorcycle shot out from under her. Tessa had never gone so fast in her life! She yelped and gripped Erise's black vest tighter. The road was moving so fast it seemed like a blur. Tessa felt dizzy and closed her eyes. Then the loud hum of a truck filled the night air. Tessa turned around and saw a gray truck draw closer and closer. In the driver's seat was a chi-blocker.

The truck was gaining on the jet black motorcycle.

"Erise!" Tessa shouted into the young man's ear. "They're getting closer!"

He glanced behind him and a look of concern flashed across his pale face.

"Take the handles," Erise said simply.

"What?!" Tessa yelped. "I can't drive!"

"Well it's about time you learned to!"

Erise grabbed Tessa's hands and dragged them to the handle bars. She blushed at the sudden closeness between Erise and her. Tessa breathed deeply, inhaling the smell of his shirt. He smelled like campfire.

"What are you doing?!" Erise shouted pulling Tessa out of her thoughts. "Grab the dang handle bars!"

She closed her hand over the padding and hung on tight. Erise let go of her hands. Tessa was in control now. Erise stood up, balancing on the slim seat. He slowly stepped over Tessa and she scotched forward. At that moment, the motorcycle hit a pot-hole in the road causing Tessa to swerve violently.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Erise's feet started to slide as he lost his balance. His arms flailed futilely in the air as he struggled to stay on the vehicle. Erise clutched onto the only thing that her could grab, Tessa's hair. She howled in pain as he used her light brown locks to hoist himself upward.

"Hey!" Tessa yelped. "That hurt!"

"Well if _someone_ was driving better, I wouldn't have done  
that," Erise hissed catching his breath.

"I case you haven't noticed, I don't know how to drive."

"Yeah yeah," Erise waved off.

Tessa felt anger boiling inside of her. This boy was so infuriating. She glanced back in the rearview mirror at the truck tailing them.

"Anything you can do about them?" Tessa asked Erise.

She saw a mischievous smirk creep across his pale face.

"About time," he responded.

In one leap, Erise jumped off the motorcycle and landed on the hood of the van.

The truck was only a couple yards away, but it was still an impressive leap. Tessa nervously watched Erise in the rear-view mirror. The young man stood there, on the hood of the truck, balancing on the shiny metal. The chi-blocker driving did not look happy about the fact of Erise blocking his view of the road. The masked person talked into what seemed to be a walkie-talkie. Tessa was worried, not for herself, but for Erise. Her heart fell as two chi-blockers flipped up from the trunk of the van and leapt onto the top. Erise jumped onto the top along with them. A chi-blocker jabbed quickly at his arm and Erise swiftly stepped away, avoiding the punch. He then countered with a couple blows which nailed one in the stomach. The chi-blocker was thrown of the truck and landed on the road. The other chi-blocker froze for a second giving Erise enough time to send a blast of fire at the person. The nimble chi-blocker flipped over the flare and landed right in front of Erise. Tessa gulped and tried to focus he attention back on driving. She couldn?t believe that there was no one on the roads tonight. Not even a police cruiser was patrolling.

"Just my luck!" Tessa thought angrily.

She looked back in time to see Erise knee the chi-blocker in the place where a man should never be kneed in. The chi-blocker let out a groan and Erise shoved him off. Erise ran and grabbed onto the top of the open window of the truck. He swung in and let loose a flurry of fire, frying the driver of the van. The truck swerved and Erise jumped out just as the truck crashed into the roadside ditch. He landed on his feet and sprinted along side the motorcycle. Tessa slowed down so Erise could climb on.

"That wasn't so bad," he breathed.

"Wasn't so bad?! You hurt three people and crashed a truck!" Tessa exclaimed. "You could've been killed!"

"Oh, so you were worried about me sweet cheeks?" said Erise slyly.

"What? No!" Tessa said blushing. "I-I mean I was, b-but not that way! And stop calling me sweet cheeks!"

"Why? Does it bother you?" Erise breathed into Tessa's ear, sending shivers up her spine.

"Just take your dumb bike back," Tessa flushed.

"No, I think you should drive the motorcycle the rest of the way. You need the practice."

"Where are we going any way?"

"To the ERR headquarters. I'll tell you where and when to turn. You know, you are actually driving pretty well for your first time."

"My dad used to let me drive his Jeep all the time," Tessa said.

"Oh." Erise said despondently.

"Hey, what's up?" Tessa asked noticing his change in tone.

"Nothing," Erise said.

"Come on. It has to be bothering you."

"Turn down this road," Erise ordered, changing the subject.

Tessa drove the motorcycle down a rundown road.

"Pull into that building," Erise said. "And keep low."

Tessa slowly drove the bike into the dilapidated building's parking lot. The structure was falling apart. The several of the first story windows were smashed, probably from thug who wanted to pick up any thing worth some value that was left behind. The flower beds were over grown and vines were snaking their way up the building's walls.

"Nice place," Tessa said sarcastically.

"It's even better on the inside," Erise stated.

As he slid of the motorcycle and walked towards the front doors, Tessa took the time to really get a good look at the boy. He wore a thin red long-sleeved shirt with a sleeveless black vest. Around his waist was a black leather belt holding up scarlet baggy pants. On his feet were jet black hiking boots. Erise walked with a snazzy kind of attitude, like he was awesome and he knew it. He turned and glanced at me with those amber eyes. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Tessa said putting the motorcycle's kickstand down.

She joined Erise at the front of the building. He pushed open the rusty door and stepped in and Tessa followed. The lobby of the structure was formerly an impressive room. The once shiny tiled floor was cracking and covered in dust. Erise and Tessa strolled up to the front desk. There were papers littering the desk with a thick coat of filth on them. Erise walked behind the desk and opened on of the draws. He emerged with what looked to be a pen.

"A pen," Tessa stated bluntly.

"Yup," Erise said, looking at the writing utensil like it was the key to world peace.

Tessa glanced around the room awkwardly.

"Okay," she said slowly.

"No, you don't understand," Erise pronounced. "This pen is not what it looks like."

"Oh! So let me guess. It opens a secret door that leads to the secretiest secret I shall ever know? Tessa joked.

"Well, yeah," Erise said looking at Tessa amazed.

"Great," Tessa said rolling her eyes.

Erise looked at her with an expression of amusement.

"You really are one of a kind," he said.

Erise then walked over to the wall behind the desk. He gently placed his hand near the corner of the wall. Erise closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. There was a small pop and a tiny compartment opened.

"How-," Tessa started.

"Benders give of a type of spiritual energy that, believe it or not, can be detected by machinery. The ERR is very cautious that only a bender can enter headquarters,? Erise explained. "The downside to the whole "spiritual energy" thing is that the Equalist can track you."

"Equalists?" Tessa asked.

"I'll explain later."

He pushed back the compartment door revealing a small hole. Erise pushed the pen into the whole. Suddenly, the building started to quiver sending dust spewing out everywhere.

"Erise?" Tessa said nervously, but the young man didn't pay any attention.

The wall, bit by bit, slid open. Tessa gasped.

"Now hurry!" Erise urged.

Tessa ran into the dark passage way as Erise quickly followed. The panel began sliding shut and the light of the rising sun began to diminish. With a thunderous bang, the wall closed completely and Tessa was alone, in a dark mysterious passage way, with Erise.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

"Great," Tessa said sarcastically into the echoing darkness. "Now I'm stuck here with you."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Erise cooed.

Tessa felt a slight tingle off to the right of her.

"Not in your dreams fire boy!" Tessa snapped as Erise tried to put his arm around her. "Now give me some light."

"Feisty are ya," Erise sighed.

He held up his hand and a small flame flickered to life. Tessa looked around the tunnel. The walls and ceiling was made of concrete which explained the echoing. The floor; however, was packed dirt. The tunnel declined as it went on.

"Come," Erise said.

"Like I have a choice."

The two walked down the tunnel.

"So what is the ERR and the whole Equalist thing?" Tessa asked.

"The ERR stands for the Equalist Rule Resistance. The Equalists are power-hungry people who want to take away peoples' bending. They regained power after they learned their leader, Amon, disappeared."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"No one knows," Erise said. "He was a bloodbender who could somehow use his power to take away bending permanently. No one knows how he did it, but before him, only the Avatar could do that to a person."

An eerie silence took hold in the dark tunnel. Tessa glanced at the flame in Erise's palm, flickering from the slight movement of air as the two walked. Tessa was mesmerized at how the fire floated the slightest bit off of the boy's skin. She then decided to say the question that lingered in her mind.

"So those people in masks, you called them chi-blockers," Tessa said after taking a shaky breath.

Erise nodded in acknowledgment.

"They did something to me; something that took away my ability to move."

"Chi-blocking," Erise said, staring ahead into the darkness. "That's the reason people call them chi-blockers."

"I saw you doing the punching thing too to one of them."

"All captains must learn chi-blocking as a style of combat and self defense. I did not want to learn it because it was sort of like I was one of _them_. But I eventually got by that and practiced it anyway."

"Oh," Tessa said.

"So I heard that you're a bender," Erise said.

Tessa's heart went into over-drive. Her hands got clammy and the tunnel seemed to get a little bit smaller.

"What?" Tessa said nervously. "I'm not a bender, why would you think I'm a bender, there's no way, who told you, I know martial arts!"

"Relax oh feisty one," Erise chuckled. "I'm not going to kill you or turn you in. The Headquarters is _filled_ with people like you and me."

Tessa all of a sudden got a vision of walking into a building packed with super hot firebending boys.

"Okay fire boy; out with it, how come you rescued me?"

"Because," Erise said. "You're the last earthbender."

_*AN:/ I am going to try something different. I am going to start writing from the characters' POV instead of always writing it third person. If there is no POV listed; however, it is in third person.*_  
Tessa's POV  
"What?" I breathed. "This….this is not happening."

My mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions. I could not think straight. Me, the last earthbender? Impossible! I couldn't be the last one. There has to be someone else besides me.

"Yep," Erise said.

The sound of his voice made me jump. I forgot that he was with me.

"The Equalist either destroyed them or took away their bending."

"I can't be the last one," I repeated aloud.

Erise turned to look at me and we both stopped walking. His ember eyes were full of pity and sadness.

"I'm sorry," he said.

With just those two words, something inside of me snapped. I started to chuckle as tears welled in my eyes.

"I have been though all of this and you just say that you're sorry."

"Tessa-," Erise started.

"I have darted through a fire, been unconscious for weeks, attacked by chi-blockers, and now heading down a tunnel to heaven knows what with a firebender that I just met a couple hours ago!"

"Well, if you put it that way-,"

"My mom doesn't even know I'm alive!" I exclaimed, falling to my knees. "First Dad died on the battle front then my brother's..." I trailed off, choking up with tears. "You don't know what it feels like!"

I pounded my fist against the dirt ground sending a giant crack slithering across the floor. I sat there, sobbing as all my problems and stress crashed down on me like a wave. Then, a voice spoke.

"Yes, I do."

My heart skipped a beat. The voice did not belong to Erise. I quickly turned and scrambled against the concrete wall. The voice belonged to a middle aged man. He wore a baggy orange long-sleeved shirt and pants. Over top of the shirt was a red orange robe that barley touched the ground. He had a black goatee and stormy gray eyes. The thing that freaked me out the most about this man was the arrow tattoo that went up the back of his shaved head and ended at his forehead. He also had arrows on his soft looking hands.

"Who-who the hell are you," I trembled. "And what have you done with Erise."

The man smiled at me. Somehow, I suddenly felt comfortable with this complete stranger, like I've known him all my life. I pulled myself up from the ground at stood level with him.

"I am Avatar Aang and I have done nothing with your friend," he said.

"So, you just pop in on anyone once in a while?" I grimaced.

"Tessa, there is so much you don't know or understand. Secrets that are very dark; people who don't appear as they seem and are willing to sacrifice their lives if it means destroying you."

"Any good news?" I asked nervously. All this stuff that was coming out of that man's mouth did not sound that pleasant.

Instead of answering, Aang just smiled and faded away. As he was disappearing, his eyes and arrow started to glow. I watched, paralyzed, as he vanished into nothing. The tunnel seemed to dissolve along with Aang. Soon, I was floating in a sea of blackness, the glow of the man as my guiding light.

"Tessa, Tessa!" said a distant voice.

I waved it off. My eye lids weighed a ton and I had no interest in opening them. My mind felt like pudding and my limbs were detached from my brain.

"TESSA!" screamed the voice.

I was prepared to shrug off the voice again until I felt a sharp sting against my cheek. My eyes shot open and my thoughts went into overdrive. How did I get on the ground? Why am I inside a dark tunnel? Why is a cute boy with curly hair staring down at me with a worried look? Suddenly I remembered the prior events that had taken place (and I mentally kicked myself for thinking Erise as "cute"). I tried to sit up, but a surging headache flooded over me causing me to fall back against the concrete wall.

"Erise, what happened to me and why the heck did you slap me?" I groaned as I held my head.

"You...uh, fainted and you...um...were not waking up," he replied.

The young man seemed shaken up. I couldn't help but notice how carefully he placed his words. However, none of that really mattered to me at the moment.

"Help me up," I ordered.

Erise hesitated and then slowly neared me like I was a hazardous wild animal.

"Uh, are you okay," I asked as he slid his arms under mine and lifted me to my feet.

His attitude has changed from cocky to jumpy in less than a couple minutes, unless I have been out for longer.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It is you that I am worried about," he said as we began to walk again.

There was a veil of silence between us for a while. Then Erise cut though it.

"You handled the whole "last earthbender thing"….well," he said slowly as if fearing I would pass out again.

I breathed heavily as I remembered him telling me the bit of information. Erise took that I did not want to talk about the issue. There was another awkward silence.

"How much longer to the tunnel," I said.

"Not much further." Erise responded. "Oh, right here!"

He turned to a small keypad about four feet up the tunnel wall. I watched as Erise punched in the letter H, then the letter O, next P, and finally E.

"Hope," I asked, restating the password.

"Something the Equalists don't have," the boy said while hitting the ENTER button.

Suddenly, there was a grinding sound and dust arose, filling my nose and causing my eyes to water. As the door slid open, the glare of artificial light spread out and lit up the dim tunnel. Erise lowered his hand, extinguishing the small flame in his palm. I stood there, awestruck, at what was behind the door.

"Whoa," I softly breathed.

Erise looked at me with his amused stare and stated, "Welcome to the headquarters of the Equalist Rule Resistance!"

Erise's POV  
I saw Tessa's green eyes widen at the sight of what was behind the siding panel. For me; however, it no dazzling sight. I have called the Headquarters home for over seven years. I watched as Tessa practically drooled over the view of the Headquarters. We were standing on the top level, looking down over a railing, down a circular hole. The whole underground building was shaped like a cylinder with rooms circling the perimeter. If you looked over the rail into the hallow center, you would see several levels of workstations and employees carrying folders and briefcases to designated stations. We watched as workers opened the glass doors that led to the office.

"This is amazing!" Tessa gasped. "It's like an underground city!"

"Well, it sort of is," I replied.

Tessa looked at me confused. I explained it to her.

"You see, every bender that the government has records of, we find them and take them here to live. It's kind of like an orphanage, since most of the benders we get are kids. They are then trained in combat and used as soldiers or spies."

"What about the kids' parents. Are they here too?"

"Most of the children are orphans. The Equalist got to most of them before we did. But if we find a parent that is a bender we take them in too and protect them."

Tessa nodded solemnly and looked back across the circle. I studied this young girl for a second. Her copper hair was extremely tangled and her freckled face was smudged with dirt. Tessa wore a gray T-shirt and blue jean which had a hole at the knee from some long ago scrape. I glance into her green eyes and thought about the frightening scene that happened in the cave.

I had just announced to Tessa that she was the last known earthbender. I saw her mind drift off behind her eyes and tears formed. She fell to her knees and pounded her fist against the floor, sending a wide crack traveling across the floor. That was the first time that I saw her bend earth and I knew that I had to try to comfort her before she collapsed that whole tunnel on top of us.

"Tessa, its okay to be upset, but you need to move on and make the best of thing," I said.

I typically used that response to tell a new comer that their parents didn't die in a car crash or drowned in the ocean, but the Equalist murdered them. But it apparently didn't work to calm Tessa down. That is when it happened.

"You don't know what its like," Tessa sobbed.  
Shivers ran up my back and I stepped away. Tessa's voice sounded different. It wasn't her usual upbeat tone, but a darker heavier voice. The words came out loudly and it sounded like a whole crowd of people talking instead of one.

"Tessa?" I whimpered.

Suddenly there was a glow of blinding white light. It grew brighter and brighter until I was sure that it burned out my eyes. I squinted and looked at Tessa. My heart pounded in my throat and I was paralyzed with fear. I powerful wind gust picked up and threw me against the rock wall. The air surrounded Tessa like a giant orb and she slowly rose into the air.

"TESSA!" I screamed over the unfathomably strong current of air.

Tessa's head jerked and turned towards me. I screamed in horror at what I saw. Her eyes were illuminated with white light.

"_YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE!_" the voice from Tessa's mouth snarled.

There was one more flash of (if possible) and even brighter light. Then there was darkness. I fell to the ground panting hard. I couldn't see anything. I scrambled up a stood there, waiting for another freak tantrum. But there was nothing. My mind couldn't comprehend what I just witnesses.

"Erise?" said a faint voice.

I jumped out of my skin when I realized it was Tessa. She seemed to have no memory of the supernatural occurrence. She asked what happened and I lied to her, telling her that she fainted. Of coarse I felt bad about lying to Tessa, but there was no way on Earth that I was going help trigger another freaky glow spasm.

"Do _all_ earthbenders do this?!" I thought.

I made a mental note to report this to the General. He must know about the whole eye glowing incident. But for now, I was going to get Tessa settled in. And getting settled in meant that I had to introduce my task force a.k.a her roomies. Oh man, this was going to be interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Tessa's POV

The ERR Headquarters was _amazing_! I felt like I journeyed to the future. I mean a whole underground city? Wow! Then Erise spoke.

"Do you want me to show you where you will be staying?" he asked.

"What?" I asked. "You mean that I'm not going home? But what about my mom?"

"She'll be fine. I am pretty sure, jugging by her records, that she is not a bender. Now come on and follow me. You don't want to be lost on your first day."

Erise lead me around the circle to an elevator that was guarded by a middle aged man in a suit. He looked like a Secret Service Agent. Erise strode over and sharply turned to face the man. They both rigidly saluted each other.

"Mr. Fredrick," Erise said.

"Captain Thidobeaux," replied the man.

They both thrust down their arms sharply against their sides. I tried as hard as I could not to laugh. This was _Erise_ acting like a solider and the man saluting a fifteen year old kid! The man pressed the down button against the wall and the elevator doors slid open. Erise marched inside. I followed and I made a small noise in my throat from trying not to giggle. The suited man glared down at me as I passed, eyeing me suspiciously. I slapped on an over-dramatic serious face and marched in the elevator. I stood up against the back wall beside Erise, still with the serious look on my face. He leaded over and pressed the glowing button number 3. The doors slid shut and we started to descend.

"_Captain_ Thidobeaux?" I joked.

"Yep. Captain of Task Force 452," he said mechanically.

I knew at once that he must say that at least twenty times a day.

"And your last name is Thidobeaux?"

Erise nodded and grinned. "Yeah, you gotta problem with that," he said in an overly dramatic deep voice.

I smiled.

There was and awkward silence all the way down. There was a small beeping noise when we jolted to a stop.

"Floor 3. Apartments and Fitness Room for Task Force 452," said a woman's voice from a speaker on the roof of an elevator. Erise and I stepped out and the steel elevator doors slid shut behind us. I followed him down the curved hall.

"Now," Erise said. "The people you are about to meet are professional benders and are extremely well skilled. I would know because I trained them myself."

We stopped at a wooden door. Erise took a ring of keys attached to his belt and flipped to a silver one. He inserted the key in the lock and turned. Erise turned the door knob and pushed it open. My ears were met with the sound of blaring rock music. The apartment on the inside had grey colored walls which were covered in childish crayon doodles. The ugly orange carpet was littered with empty pizza boxes, candy wrappers, soda cans, and stray articles of clothing. Though the thing that drew my eyes were the kids. There were two little boys, twins at about the age of eight, yelling at each other, yanking the other's black straight hair, and punching at one another. The other kid was a boy, almost my age, struggling to pull the twins apart. He wore a black collared shirt and jeans that hung off of his thin frame. The boy's mousy brown hair was slicked back and strands were in his face. His mouth was moving and his face was red from anger. The boy looked like he was shouting, but no sound came out of his mouth. There was a teenage girl sitting on the couch behind the three boys. She had blond curly hair tied up in a ponytail. The blond had scissors in her had and was cutting pictures of boys out of an issue of Teen Magazine. She seemed unfazed by the boys' fight. I looked over at Erise and smiled at his shocked and embarrassed expression.

"Yeah," I smirked at his face. "I can _totally_ tell that you trained them yourself."

Erise and I stood there for almost a minute before one of the twins spotted us.

"Hey! Erise's back!" he declared pointing at the two of us.

The others turned towards us and had an 'Uh-oh' expression on their faces. The older boy swiftly kicked a pop can under the couch, but the damage was already done.

"Squad line up!" Erise yelled over the music. "And someone turn that God awful song off!"

"It's called 'That's What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction," the blond complained, sliding of the couch.

Erise glared at her and she fell silent. All four of them lined up. That's when something passed by me. I jump almost a foot off the ground.

"I'm here," said a girl's monotone voice.

The teen wore a black tank-top, black ripped jeans, and black high top shoes. She had black nail polish and black hair that reached her ears. When she turned to line up beside the blond girl, I saw she had black eye shadow and eyeliner. Even her lipstick was black.

"Where have you been?" Erise demanded.

"I _was_ listening to _Paradise Lost_ on my iPod behind the door," she said, holding up an iPod touch that had (wouldn't you know it) a black cover. "That is until you slammed it open and crushed my face. That really hurt Erise!"

"You shall address me as Captain Thidobeaux, Private Martin," Erise growled.

"Please, just call me Chrys," she shrugged off.

Erise ignored her. He then turned towards me.

"Everyone, this is Tessa Cren. She is a new member of Task Force 452."

I looked at Erise, shocked.

"Oh, I'm not…" I started. But Erise interrupted.

"Let's go down the line and everyone state their name."

The twins were up first.

"I'm Private Aang Yates," said the boy. I recognized that name from somewhere, I just couldn't place it. I noticed that Aang had longer, shaggier hair than his brother's, who's was cut nicely and combed to the side.

"And I'm Private Tenzin Yates," said the other bother, holing out his hand.

I grasped it and shook it. Next was the mousy haired boy. I waited for the teen to say his name, but Erise spoke.

"He is Private Lenny Kauffman," Erise said.

The boy nodded. I was puzzled at first, but then suddenly drew to the conclusion that the boy couldn't physically speak. I decided to ask Erise why later.

"I'm Private Alexandria Joreski, but you can call me Ally," said the blond girl joyfully. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Next was the Chrys girl. She looked at Erise miserably.

"Do I have to say it?" she asked.

Erise nodded sternly. Chrys heaved a deep sigh.

"Private Chrysanthemum Martin reporting for duty," uttered the girl. She gave a halfhearted salute.

"Wait, hold on a second," Erise said, looking back over the children. "Where is Private McCoy?"

Aang was the first to answer.

"Training, like always," he said.

"That's all she ever does," added Tenzin.

"Hey, that's what I was about to say!" declared Aang, glaring at his brother accusingly.

Erise sighed and shook his head.

"Come on," he said to me. "I might as well show you the fitness room wile we're at it."

"May we come too Captain Thidobeaux," asked Tenzin politely.

"Sure whatever," Erise replied.

Erise walked out of the untidy apartment followed by me and the rest of Task Force 452. I was still a little frustrated at Erise making me a member of the team. Even though the Headquarters was really cool, it didn't replace the homesickness growing in the pit of my stomach.

The hallway was tiled and there were pictures of people in uniforms hung up on the barren walls.

"Who are those people," I asked to Erise.

"Those are all the captains in the ERR," he explained.

"So you are hanging up on here?"

"Yep," he said. "In fact, here I am right here.

Erise pointed to a frame and I nearly exploded with laughter.

"You had a _mustache_?!" I giggled.

"What? No I- HEY!" he exclaimed shocked at what he was seeing.

In the picture, Erise was dressed in a gray uniform, grinning smugly. However; right beneath his nose, drawn in black marker, was a giant curly mustache.

"Okay!," Erise yelled, glaring at Ally, Lenny, Chrys, Tenzin, and Aang. "Who did this?! Who drew a handlebar mustache on my gorgeous face?!"

As if on cue, all the kids pointed to Aang. He looked stunned.

"I expected mutiny from all of you. But Tenzin, my own brother! Backstabber!"

"Hey," Tenzin said matter-of-factly. "Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."

"What does that ever mean?" Aang demanded.

"You little-" Erise growled as he held out his arms to grab Aang.

Aang yelped and quickly started circling his hands about. I stared dumbfounded as I actually saw a small ball of rushing air beginning to form between his small hands. The black-haired boy forced the orb onto the ground and leapt on top of it. He pushed his hand backwards and the ball of air sped off with Aang on top of it. I was astounded. The little kid was an airbender! A real live airbender! Everyone watched as the floating boy zoomed down the hall and disappeared around the bend.

"Airbending rat," growled Erise.

I felt a tug at the bottom of my shirt. I looked down to see Tenzin staring up at me with stormy gray eyes.

"You must excuse my brother," he said. "He hasn't quite…imatured/i yet. As my mother said, he inherited the crazy gene in our family."

"Can you airbend too?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Well," Erise said, pointing to a glass door a little way down the hall. "There's the Fitness Room where we train."

We walked to the glass doors and I peered in. The room was quite large with a wooden floor and walls. Hanging up; were posters, all sending; along the lines, the inspirational message: "Get off your lazy butt and get to work!" There were several punching bags, treadmills, ellipticals, and a few targets. The only one in the room was an older girl. She wore a navy blue tank-top with purple workout shorts. Her sleek blackish blue hair was tied up in a ponytail. The girl did a series of flips and handsprings. I was in awe at her agility and flexibility. Once the girl landed on her feet, she moved her hands in fluid motions as if she was pulling an invisible robe. I suddenly noticed a plastic pail of water in the far corner of the room. I inhaled sharply as the clear liquid rose out of the bucket in a thin stream. The girl then did a no handed cartwheel. The water swiftly swirled around her like a ring and engulfed her hands and arms. As she landed, the water receded around her hands down around her well manicured fingers. The girl drew her hands back and the water froze, creating shimmering icicles. She trusted her arms forward and the ice flew off and all ten hit the bull's-eye at the nearest target. My eyes widened in amazement. I looked up at Erise to see that his eyes were shining with both pride and something else that I couldn't quite identify.

Erise pushed the door open and walked in.

"Nice job Private McCoy. Maybe someday you might even become Captain," he declared.

The girl's head spun around to look at Erise. Her ice blue eyes narrowed as he approached her. The teen would be quite pretty; maybe even beautiful, if her eyes didn't make me feel like I should curl up and hide under a rock somewhere.

"What do you want Erise," the girl said while raking her fingers through her hair.

"We have a new recruit that I am sure you would want to meet."

That was the first time that I heard Erise not correct one of the task force members for not addressing him properly. But on the other hand, I wouldn't dare argue with the girl if I was in Erise's place.

"Okay, who is this new boot that I'll be breaking in?" she asked slickly.

"Tessa?" Erise called, looking back at me though the glass.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The rest of the kids followed behind me. The teenage girl stared me down and I walked in. My eyes locked with hers and we followed each other as I walked to stand next to Erise. The girl was tall; maybe even taller, than Erise. Her chin was sharply pointed and she had thin sallow cheeks.

"Jenna McCoy," the girl said, holding out her hand.

"I'm Tessa Cren," I responded hesitantly, meeting her hand in a firm shake.

Erise eyed use both curiously the entire time as if we were a science experiment about to react. He breathed out after the hand shake like he was holding his breath the entire time.

After we let go of each other's hands Jenna's lips curled into a mischievous smile.

She said, "She looks a little weak and scrawny to me, but she will do."

Erise slapped his forehead with his hand. I; on the other hand; felt offended.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't meet your requirements," I responded coolly.

I could sense everyone's eyes on me, watching me in disbelief. I stared Jenna in the eyes as she grinned down at me. Then she chuckled. I felt the tension in the room let up.

"I like this girl," she declared. "She has guts. And that what we need on this team."

I didn't budge the entire time. My eyes were still focused on the girl in the gym sweats. Something about this girl made my blood boil. My stubbornness made my gut tell me not to get all chummy with Jenna just yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Aang's POV

My instincts took over when Erise tried to grab me. I centered myself and stared spinning my arms around to form an air scooter. I have always treasured my airbending. It is; after all, what got me to meet all my new friends from Task Force 542. My grandfather decided that it would be best if Tenzin and I were trained in defense, just incase the ERR was ambushed. However; we are not allowed to go on missions like the others. My grandfather gave Erise strict orders to make sure we never left Headquarters. My brother and I haven't seen the outside world since we were five. I try so hard to forget that day, three years ago, when our grandfather took us in and saved us from the Equalists.

It was a quiet autumn night. Daddy had gotten home from work and was watching the nightly news on TV. Mama was helping Tenzin with his school project that he waited last minute to do. I was curled up on my bed upstairs, staring out of the open fingerprint smeared window. Because we lived far back in woods, there was no sound to be heard but the soothing sound of crickets. The moonlight shone though the canopy of leaves creating and pattern of silver light on the leaf covered ground. The night air was rushing though the open window, fluttering the floral curtains. I could feel the breeze flow around me and rustle my shaggy black hair. I smiled at the sensation of calmness and peace that filled me. My eyelids got really heavy all of the sudden. The drossiness of my five year-old body was dragging my mind into sleep.

I do not know how long I was out or what I was dreaming about when I heard my mother's scream. My mind shook it of and I tried to sustain the peaceful feeling. Distant voices attempted to squeeze though the wall that I mentally put up. One sound managed to break the barrier: my brother sobbing.

I felt thoughts being pulled up from the bottom of trench and resurfacing into reality. My eyes shot open and I was, at once, fully awake. I nearly wet the bed at what I saw. There were several people with masks. Their red eyes were glowering down at me. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I struggled to move my legs to kick a person in the stomach, but they wouldn't move. I frantically looked down at them to find that I had been tied down to my bed. I quickly looked up at the red eyed people. They seemed to be staring back at me with interest. I shifted my gaze to my bedroom door. It was barricaded by my bookshelf filled with books. The shelf alone probably weighed a hundred pounds. No average kid could slide it out of the way without going unnoticed. I never thought that reading could literally kill me! I forced myself to look back at the people surrounding me like vultures.

"Wh-where's Daddy and Mama," I managed to whimper.

"Just calm down and relax," said a female person. "We'll send you to where they are at. Just don't struggle."

I watched as a masked person beside her reached into a bag that was slung over his shoulder.

"Just keep calm and you'll see your parents soon," said the woman again.

The man finally took his hand out from the bag. In his clenched fist was a needle, like the one I would get vaccinations with at the doctors. This didn't calm me down the least. I started struggling against the rope. Two people walked over to each side of me and held down my arms while another held down my feet.

"Mama! Daddy!" I screamed.

"Their not here," said the woman in a soothing voice. "If don't struggle, we'll send you to them."

The masked man approached me with the needle. I watched the clear liquid within the glass tube splash against the sides. He held the needle above my right arm. He was just about to insert it when a "BANG" vibrated the whole house. The man dropped the needle which shattered against the bedroom floor. The others turned to the bedroom door. It was complete silence for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, the door flew open. It hit the bookshelf and knocked it over on top of a couple masked people. There was a great rush of wind. It was the most strong and powerful thing that I have ever witnessed. The force of the rushing air blew the door off its hinges and sent it shattering into slivers of wood. I had to close my eyes to keep my eyelids from blowing off my face. All of the masked people latterly rose off of the floor and hit the wall. One of them fell out of the open window. After the wind stopped, I opened my eyes to see a figure standing in the door way. It was a bald old man. He wore a gray suit that had different medals and pins on it. Despite his age, his eyes were full of life and craziness, like he was hipped up on coffee.

"Look out chi-blockers!" he declared. "General Meelo is IN THE HOUSE!"

One of the chi-blockers lunged at the weird old man. The elder, who I guessed was named Meelo, flicked his wrist. I watched wide eyed as a coil of air appeared on the floor and spun around like a miniature tornado. It spun underneath the person's feet and sent them spiraling to the floor. Meelo unleashed another on of his powerful gusts on the masked people.

"Watch out kid!" the old man yelled over the wind.

He brought down his arm and a sliver of air came down and sliced the ropes that bound me.

"Hurry up and untangle yourself!" Meelo bellowed. "I can't hold this wind much longer!"

I quickly slid myself out from under the ropes. I ran over beside Meelo.

"Go find your brother!" he said.

I nodded and ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"Tenzin!" I called.

"Aang?" a little kid's voice said.

I ran into the family room to find my parents. They were on the ground, lying side by side, their eyes closed. My bother sat cross-legged beside them, holding my mother's limp hand. His combed hair was a mess and tears were sliding down his cheeks. He looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Their gone," he choked.

Tears welled in my own eyes. A lump grew in my throat. My Daddy and Mama were gone. The masked people took them away from us. My sadness was suddenly taken by anger and then by grief.

"There's a man who helped me," I said to Tenzin. "Do you know who he is?"

Tenzin nodded. "He told me he is our grandfather. He said that we need to get out of here."

At that moment, the old man raced down the stairs.

"Come on kids! We need to go now!" he said.

"But Mama and-" Tenzin stared.

"Leave them!" Meelo interrupted. "They're already gone!"

The man then punched outward and sent a blast of air that blasted apart the front door.

"General Meelo, away!" he declared as he literally flew out though the door way and onto the porch.

"Tenzin," I said, looking down at my brother. "We have to go."

I held out my hand and he took it. Him and I walked out the door way. We walked off the porch and found Meelo in the driver's seat of a black van. I grew frightened. This man is actually iallowed/i to operate a vehicle?!

"Get in the back," said Meelo.

I pulled open the car-door handle and slid into a seat. Tenzin sat next to me. He pulled the door shut. Meelo turned the van's ignition key and the engine came to life. As we sped off into the night, Tenzin leaned against me and broke down in tears. And for the first time that night, I allowed myself to cry.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Tessa's POV  
I slowly opened the door, at a desk sat a tall, skinny, bearded, bald old man in yellow and orange robes that had medals on them. His smile was so wide that it looked like wind was blasting at him at seventy miles per hour.  
"Hello!" The man said enthusiastically (and quite loudly). "I'm Meelo, General of the ERR Headquarters and rebellion movement!"  
"Hi. I'm Tessa Cren." I said quietly.  
"Speak up kid! My ears are not how they were in my youth!" the man said earnestly.

"MY NAME IS TESSA!" I shouted.

I heard the smack of Erise's hand to his forehead.

The man's grin shrunk a bit. "No need to yell…" he muttered. "Take a seat."

I sat down in the chair across from his desk. Erise stood beside me, towering over me. Now I really felt short.  
"So, the records tell me you're an earthbender. Is that true?" Meelo asked.  
"Yes sir." I said.  
"Well, I'm sure Erise told you that you are the last earthbender!" Meelo said, he never seemed to lose his eagerness.  
"Yes… he did." I said, remembering how I felt so alone back in the tunnel.  
"Well, I think you'll do well here!" Meelo said, again enthusiastically.

Meelo's POV  
I was the only person here who knew about the Avatar, I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up that the Avatar will come back and save us. I thought, maybe this girl could be the Avatar, being the last Earthbender. I pushed the thought away, the truth was I didn't want to be reminded about Korra being gone, all of them were, including Jinora, Ikki and my brother Rohan. I also didn't want to get my hopes up either.  
"May she be dismissed?" Captain Thidobeaux asked.  
"Oh…yes." I said. I had gotten off track, again. "Miss Cren, you may head back to your apartment."

The girl leapt off of the wood chair and opened my office door. Erise turned to follow.

"Oh…Erise!" I called.

The youth swiveled and I came face to face with his stunning orange eyes.

"I need to speak with you…" I glanced at Tessa. "Alone."

Erise's POV  
I tried to decide whether or not to tell Meelo about what happened in the tunnel. I decided I now would be the time to do so. Tessa looked at me strangely. I waved my hands at her to go on ahead. She opened the door and stepped out, her golden hair disappearing behind her.

I heard the door click as it shut. Meelo leaned forward in his chair and rested his scruffy chin on his hands.

"Just out of curiosity, how long have you been apart of our society Captain Thidobeaux?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh…about seven years, I think." Seven years since my mother died of cancer, seven years since I was sent to the orphanage, and seven years since I was found by a ERR task force. My life changed so much since then, the world changed so much since then.

"Hmmmm… I can probably trust you. Since the time you rescued Tessa till now, did you notice or experience anything…different?"

Now. Now was the time.  
I took a shaky breath. "Well, when I told her that she was the last earthbender her bending got stronger, her eyes started to glow. She doesn't remember any of it." I said. Meelo looked relieved, sad, and worried at once. "What's wrong? I asked.  
"I think she might be what's called the Avatar. She is supposed to keep balance in the world, and she has a connection to all four elements and the spirit world."

I cocked my head. Huh?

Meelo recognize my confusion.

"Meet me tonight in my office at midnight. We will discus this matter then."


End file.
